A Winner Is You: Orochimaru
by Kohaku Kawa
Summary: Orochimaru fights in Avatarjk137's tournament.
1. Orochimaru Arrives

**A Winner Is You Tournament: Orochimaru**

**This is my entry for Avatarjk137's Tournament**

**I do not own any of the characters in this story.**

_Orochimaru-sama where are you?_ Kabuto thought restlessly as he scanned the crowd yet again for his master. It was only ten minutes past the rendezvous time but Orochimaru was usually so punctual. Kabuto sighed and began to walk around the mall again. He couldn't understand why Orochimaru insisted on coming to this thing. It seemed like a tournament held in a mall would be kid stuff. Though, as he looked around Kabuto saw that many powerful fighters had arrived as well. There were a couple kids and quite a few creatures that looked like fluffy toy animals, but overall the people here were warriors. Some of them might even be able to match Orochimaru.

"Kabuto" A low voice said behind him, so close that the breath stirred the hairs on Kabuto's neck.

Kabuto jumped. Orochimaru chuckled as Kabuto tried to recompose himself.

"Well, how does it look?" Orochimaru asked.

"You were right Orochimaru-sama; there are many skilled fighters here that would make good additions to Sound."

Orochimaru laughed again, he didn't need to say I told you so. Kabuto had regained his calm by now so he didn't show the blush he was feeling. Orochimaru always treated him like a kid.

"There you are," Said a tall red haired man walking toward them. "You ran away while I was in the middle of talking snake. That's very rude." He didn't seem to be joking. In fact he looked almost threatening.

Orochimaru smirked. "Deepest apologies demon fox." He _was _joking.

The man considered him for a second. Then let the menace drop from his face and voice. "Well then." He said and walked away. Indeed, the air seemed lighter now that he was gone.

"Who was that?" Kabuto asked.

"You don't recognize him Kabuto? You need to heighten your senses."

Kabuto thought for a good minute about everything that he had seen while the man was talking. Orochimaru patiently waited for the pieces to click into place. When they did Kabuto's eyes went wide and he lost his usually well kept composure for the second time.

"Kyuubi?" He whispered, unbelieving. Orochimaru nodded.

"How?"

"I forgot to ask him." Orochimaru obviously didn't care how it had happened. He wouldn't have forgotten something like that.

"And you were talking… about what?"

Orochimaru gave him the look that said he didn't need to know, but then shrugged and told him anyway. "Just making a bet."

Kabuto didn't know what to ask next. The whole thing was so strange, so impossible.

Orochimaru laughed seeing his confusion. "Don't think so hard Kabuto." He said, walking away. "Now come show me this place in more detail, I'll need to know the layout for the fights. Have they announced pairings yet?"

"No, Orochimaru-sama."

Orochimaru tsked and kept walking. "Well, I hope you've started getting data on everyone."

"Yes Orochimaru-sama."

"Good." He walked on at a brisk pace even though Kabuto was the one showing him the mall.

**a/n good luck to all my opponents!**


	2. Round 1: Solid Snake

**Round 1  
Orochimaru vs. Solid Snake**

As Orochimaru's foot came down he heard a click.

"Kuso." He cursed under his breath and leapt far to the other side of the atrium and into a clothing store. It was less than a second but before he could duck behind the register the bomb exploded and blew him to the back wall. The shock wave was strong and the wall cracked where his head whiplashed against it. Groaning he rose and kicked down the already cracked wall. He hoped Solid Snake wouldn't expect him to leave that way.

He ran through a few stores and stopped in a bath shop fairly close to where the explosion had gone off. He hid behind a shampoo display and watched for Snake to check out the site. He didn't. Orochimaru tsked, this Snake guy was more efficient than he'd expected. He obviously knew that Orochimaru had escaped the blast and the weapons master wasn't about to show himself. Well Orochimaru could play the same way.

It was horribly basic, but it would work. Orochimaru meticulously set a ring of explosive seals and trigger wires closely knit in a ring with a wide enough range that by the time he was finished snake _should_ still be inside. He then circled the ring again searching for any sign that Snake had left the encircled area. He should still be in there. This Solid Snake was an impressive strategist, he would be hard to beat if Orochimaru had to continue fighting him long range. Well he would have to wait for Snake to trip one of the wires and then attack the spot. He sent a couple snakes through the trap to scout for Snake in case he found a way to get past the ring of seals. He found a store close by that had a sign with and overhang and lay on top of that so he was invisible from the ground.

After half an hour he began to suspect that Snake was hiding as well. Soon he felt one and then both of his snakes die as they set off explosives set within the circle. This was a battle of who would seek out whom first. But was the first to move necessarily the loser? Orochimaru was bored enough to try it anyway. It wasn't as if Solid Snake was dangerous enough that Orochimaru couldn't take a few risks. The explosion hadn't been too difficult to evade and he was sure that taking a few hits wouldn't decide the battle. He deftly stepped through the trigger wires and around the seals into the circle he had set up and began the search.

After a bit he saw another ring of triggers. Solid Snake had set up his own ring to counter Orochimaru's. He would have to enter if he wanted to face the Snake, the man would not move first. Orochimaru retreated a few feet and then let a small swarm of snakes drop from his arms. He sent them through the ring, a few set of the explosives but he was removed enough to avoid any damage and enough snakes got through to overwhelm the central area.

There was a loud noise and a trail of smoke marked the path of a rocket headed straight for him. Orochimaru dashed to the side and the rocket crashed into the floor and to the next level. Orochimaru stood tensed, ready to strike the moment he saw Snake. He felt a gun dig into his back.

"Surrender." Solid Snake said harshly and pulled the trigger. The bullet ripped through his muscles and lodged into a rib. It hurt like hell, but Orochimaru was disciplined enough to ignore it for the moment. He spun and struck Snake's shoulder with his elbow. Snake flinched and dropped the gun, he hadn't been prepared for such a quick recovery on Orochimaru's part.

Now, though, he _was _prepared and he struck at Orochimaru with is fist. The pain from the shot caught up with the sannin for a second and the punch caught him soundly in the face. It stung but he had suffered worse. Snake might be no stranger to hand to hand combat but Orochimaru could beat him. When Snake snap kicked at Orochimaru's stomach the sannin easily avoided it. Next Snake punched to his chest but Orochimaru swatted this to the side and kicked out with his own leg. Snake dodged this and countered with a round house kick to Orochimaru's kidneys. Orochimaru crouched low so the kick went over his head, swinging his own leg wide. Snake jumped and collided with Orochimaru's chest, landing so that his legs pinnedOrochimaru's arms and he was seated firmly on his chest.

Before Snake could land a punch, though, Orochimaru shot out his tongue, wrapping it around Snake's neck. He lifted the other man off his chest and swung him against the ceiling and then a wall to the other side. Then he swung Snake in a full circle, rising and turning in a circle himself, and let Snake fall hard to the floor where he slid into the ring of explosive seals. The explosion was bright and Orochimaru had to shield his face. He drew his tongue back in and walked to the fading cloud of smoke, stopping a ways off in case Snake somehow had any fight left in him.

He heard the shot fired but couldn't move quickly enough. The bullet entered his neck, passed through his muscles and cords of his neck, missed his spine, and shot out the back of his neck like raw flame. Blood came spurting out of Orochimaru's mouth and he fell to his knees. Snake stood, one leg supporting the bulk of his weight. He still held the sniper rifle ready to fire. When he saw Orochimaru's state he relaxed and dropped the gun.

"Got you." He whispered.

The snakes inside of Orochimaru writhed and began to knit together at the wound, like wriggling strands of muscle they remade his throat. More squirmed at his side from the earlier wound. Orochimaru groaned and shakily rose to his feet. One of the snakes meshing into his neck fell loose and landed at his feet. Orochimaru cracked his neck to either side and grinned.

"Ouch." He said without a trace of pain.

"What are you?" Snake asked and Orochimaru's grin broadened.

"The winner." He laughed and drew the Kusanagi sword from his throat.

Solid Snake dropped to one knee, pulling another gun from a back holster and firing rapidly. Orochimaru flipped in an arch over Snake's head, landing behind him. He cracked the Kusanagi's hilt against Snakes temple and the soldier fell unconscious.  
Orochimaru took Snake's pack of cigarettes and lit one. Then he made his way casually to the mall entrance -he was ready for his next victim.

**a/n Sannin is a title used by Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya (lit translation: three people)  
The Kusanagi is Orochimaru's sword that is kept inside a Snake inside his mouth/throat. I believe there is enough extra room in his throat to get shot but miss the snake. I have seen him, in the anime, draw the sword straight from his mouth without bringing out the snake first in case you're wondering.**


	3. Interlude

**Interlude**

Orochimaru leaned back and watched Kabuto order the quasi-Asian food that the food court had to offer. After glaring at the fish from the sushi stand Kabuto walked over to the Little Panda. Orochimaru sighed and hoped it would be edible.

"That was a pretty pathetic fight." Kyuubi chuckled, strolling over. "I can't believe you got so beat up in the first round."

"This isn't a cartoon show, Kyuubi," Orochimaru sneared as the fox demon sat across from him. "The level of our opponents won't start minimal and steadily increase to be just enough for a challenge and new jutsu to be unlocked each round."

Kyuubi laughed at this; his hearty, demonic laugh that half sounded like a growl. "You should have beheaded him though," he said, "It woiuld have been a much better ending."

Orochimaru nodded. "A good thing I didn't though. It was our bet I remembered, not the rules, so I suppose I should be thanking you."

Kyuubi grinned. "How will you survive following all these rules?"

"How will you?" Orochimaru laughed. "You haven't even been tempted yet."

"I'll manage."

Kabuto returned and placed a plate of noodles and chicken in front of Orochimaru and another with beef next to it. As he sat next to Orochimaru Kyuubi grabbed the beef plate and began to eat.

"Hey!" Kabuto snapped.

Kyuubi stopped eating and looked up slowly. "My tolerance for your master makes you presumptuous, child."

"I'm not-" Orochimaru cut him off.

"Don't whine, Kabuto."

Kabuto gaped at the snake ninja. Then stiffly rose and walked back to the long lines.

"Next Round: Ichigo vs. Kyuubi" They heard Death by Chocolate announce.

Orochimaru snickered "Strawberry? That should be a tough fight."

"Maybe it's that pink thing I saw walking around." Kyuubi shrugged and got up to leave.

"Hold on," Orochimaru stood as well, "I want to see this."

Kyuubi shrugged and they walked off leaving Kabuto to argue with the counter man that mayonnaise was a perfectly good pizza topping.

**A/N: Just felt like developing the Oro/Kyuubi relationship after I read Angel's fight scene. **


	4. Round 2: Deadpool

**Round 2**

**Orochimaru vs Deadpool**

Orochimaru thrust one of his snake-arms toward Deadpool, tripping him like a lightening bolt. Just as quickly the assassin jumped to his feet, skipped over the other snake-arm, and went into a spinning kick that knocked Orochimaru through a display window and into a heap of stuffed animals where a sign proclaimed, "Best Savings of the Year!!"

Deadpool took this opportunity to catch his breath.

"Sorry you all had to come in on the middle of the action," he apologized, "but you didn't really miss much. Death-by-Chocolate announced the start of the round and we ran around for a bit trying to find each other. When we did meet there was the necessary banter of insults: I said he looked like the walking dead and he said I looked like a clown. Since we basically use the same styles we took shots at each others training. Then I gave him the finger and he stuck his tongue out at me… and hit me with it." Deadpool gave a slight shiver, "Yeah. That was weird. Anyways, then we started fighting hand to hand with a bunch of different punches and kicks. Then he started doing the weird snake thing you came in for and I'm trying to figure out how to counter that." He laughed, "Though, that kick wasn't bad. Oh, your back. How're you feeling?" This last was directed at Orochimaru who had scrambled out of the toy store and was staring at Deadpool.

"Who the hell are you talking to?" The ninja asked warily.

"The readers." Deadpool answered.

"What are you-" Orochimaru threw up his hands (the snakes were gone.) "Whatever, can we continue the fight now?"

"Gladly." Deadpool said, drawing his twin Katanas.

Orochimaru smiled; hopefully the crazy was done talking to himself. Orochimaru stayed out of Deadpool's reach and threw a few shuriken at the assassin. Deadpool dodged them all and got close enough to attack with his sword. Orochimaru evaded it neatly, but it still bothered him that Deadpool had gotten so close so quickly.

'Time for the Kusanagi' Orochimaru thought. He hadn't expected so many skilled fighters to be in this tournament! He flipped back onto a nearby kiosk and threw his head back so the snake and sword could come out easier. Took the handle of the sword in hand and swallowed the snake again.

"What?" Deadpool cried, "Are you trying to be the creepiest ninja possible?" Then he resigned himself to face whatever the creepy zombie-snake-ninja would come up with and resumed his attack.

Orochimaru was hard pressed to fend off both of Deadpool's blades with his one, but he managed. The Kusanagi, being a legendary sword, was better crafted than either Deadpool's so that helped a bit. They went through different areas of the mall, alternately attacking and running parallel to each other as they looked for a better position.

They both had excellent reflexes; Orochimaru swung for the neck and Deadpool's blade met the Kusanagi before it got anywhere near its destination. At the same time, Deadpool's other blade swung low. Orochimaru drew his legs up with a snap and brought one foot down on the low blade while kept pressure on the high blade with the Kusanagi. Then he pushed off the lower blade, stepped on Deadpool's shoulder and pushed hard off of that to land lightly on the railing of an opening to the next floor up scattering the crowd that had gathered there.

He could have made the jump by himself, of course, but the second that Deadpool was pushed to the ground gave him just enough time to disappear. Deadpool cursed, now he had no way of knowing where Orochimaru would be or what kind of plan he would have prepared. Well, he would just have to do damage control. Deadpool pulled out a hand full of smoke bombs, lit them, and tossed them up to the next floor. After just a few seconds he jumped up to the railing. The smoke wasn't thick enough yet but he hoped for more surprise by moving quickly.

Deadpool slowly circled the opening in the floor. Was that a movement to his right? Deadpool thrust a katana at the shadow and was rewarded with a stifled cry from Orochimaru as the sword sliced his side. However, a second later the ninja had skewered Deadpool soundly through the right lung. Deadpool grabbed the Kusanagi, to Orochimaru's great surprise, and tried to pull it out. Orochimaru recovered quickly and twisted the blade, driving it into Deadpool up to the hilt.

"Screw you." Deadpool gasped, grabbing the hilt and Orochimaru's arm. Then he roughly jerked the sword sideways into his ribs. It hurt but it shocked Orochimaru enough that Deadpool was able to kick the ninja away and pull the sword out of his side. Now he had the Kusanagi.

Orochimaru had enough wits to grab the sword Deadpool had sliced him with as the assassin took his prized weapon. They stood facing each other in the thinning smoke.

"You'd best give that back." Orochimaru said quietly. "Place it on the floor and back off. I won't attack you until you're ready."

"Actually, I kind of like this sword. I think I'll keep it." Deadpool grinned.

Orochimaru shook his head. As much as he wanted to rush Deadpool and grab the Kusanagi back, he knew he couldn't afford to be rash right now. He would have to focus on beating the assassin, not just getting his weapon back. He looked at Deadpool's side and saw the last of his wound closing.

"Regeneration?" He asked. Deadpool nodded. "Can anything kill you?"

"Not really," The assassin laughed, "not a sword anyway."

Orochimaru nodded thoughtfully, that could be more of an advantage than a set back. He had to keep Deadpool talking while he thought of way to use this.

"So, where does all this crazy stuff come from?" Orochimaru asked the first question that popped into his head.

"Ha, you and I are just products of crazy fan-girl typing away at her computer without a clue where she's doing next."

"What is wrong with you?" So much for time to think, no one could think properly with that crazy man's ranting.

"Me? I'm a bit insane." Deadpool laughed. "Come on, enough talking."

Orochimaru charged. He may as well just attack and see what happened. They resumed the sword fight, now they each had one sword that they weren't used to wielding, Deadpool had dropped his other katana in the struggle, so the moves were awkward. After a few minutes Orochimaru grew tired of repeating the same moves. He swung a wide arc so Deadpool would pay attention to the sword, then shot out his tongue and caught the other fighter's ankle. He pulled roughly and Deadpool fell to the ground. Orochimaru followed him, driving his knees into the assassin's chest and pushing his arms down, digging his fingers into the wrists until Deadpool let go of the Kusanagi. Deadpool fought to get up but Orochimaru put all of his weight straight onto his arms and kept him down.

"A stalemate?" Deadpool asked.

Orochimaru smiled and slid his tongue out slowly. He took the Kusanagi with the freakishly long muscle and whipped it around to point at Deadpool's neck for a moment before slicing it cleanly. The head fell away, and a number of people in the crowd screamed, not all of them girls.

Orochimaru stood, panting slightly from the fight, but waved off Kabuto as he ran over. The sannin picked up Deadpool's head and examined it before handing it to Death-by-Chocolate.

"He's alive." He said smugly. "My surgeon can reattach the head if you require." He gestured to Kabuto.

Death-by-Chocolate examined the head for himself. Deadpool was unconscious, but alive. "Orochimaru is the winner." He said.

Orochimaru thought he detected a hint of disapproval in the demon's voice. He only smiled more.

**A/N Wikipedia says that Deadpool has been beheaded before and survived it. **

**Death-by-Chocolate doesn't necessarily disapprove of the violence, it's just that overall Orochimaru is someone whom people disapprove of.**


	5. second interlude

**Really short Interlude, see angellucifel's story for the rest.**

Kabuto was more scared by the calm look on his master's face than if the Sannin had moved to strike him.

"Kabuto," Orochimaru whispered, gently caressing his assistant's cheek, "How was it," The caress moved to clench his throat, "That you didn't know about the regeneration?"

Kabuto gasped for air and was finally able to speak. "Orochimaru-sama, there are so many combatants in this tournament, I couldn't research all of them. I will not fail you again."

Orochimaru smiled. "I know. You wouldn't be foolish enough to fail me twice." Kabuto gulped as Orochimaru released his throat.

"Here," Orochimaru handed him a syringe filled with blood. "Do something right and analyze the mutant's blood."

"When did you…" Kabuto started to ask, but shook his head. Any ninja could slip a blood sample from a body, especially if the head wasn't there to notice.


	6. Round 3: Demons vs Angels

**A/N: This chapter can stand on its own, but the opening will be clearer if you read Angel Lucifel's Interlude before her fight scene. Actually, you should go ahead and read her version of this fight too. It's bloody amazing. **

**Round 3**

**Orochimaru and Kyuubi vs Wolfwood and Angel **

"So," Orochimaru nudged Kyuubi with his shoulder, "Should we wait for our unlucky opponents to find us here or should we go find them?"

Kyuubi sighed and rose from his seat by the crystalline fountain. "It's not like we need any advantages, we can fight where ever they've decided to defend their pathetic lives." The dappled light of the water on his skin enhanced the fire in his eyes and the wisps of red chakra encircling his lithe frame. "Let's go." He said and stalked out of the room.

Orochimaru followed the demon fox, smirking. It would be interesting to see if Kyuubi managed to control his anger in the next fight. With any luck he might win the bet.

Kabuto fell into place at his master's side and Kyuubi grudgingly slowed to learn about their opponents. Even if he didn't need advantages it would be silly to start the fight without knowing what his opponents' skills were.

At Orochimaru's nod Kabuto spoke. "Angel, a small pink creature, is skilled in martial arts, many different weapons, and supposedly has a song that can turn evil people good-" he paused as Orochimaru snickered. "Though, she hasn't used the song yet, so you shouldn't have to worry about it. Wolfwood is human and works almost exclusively with guns."

"I don't think Kyuubi and I have to worry about the song, even if she decides to use it. There's no good in us to turn to." Orochimaru said.

Kyuubi rolled his eyes and continued walking. "Anything else?" he asked Kabuto.

"I believe that the pink one is a relation of the blue thing that interfered in your last match."

Kyuubi stopped.

"You alright?" Orochimaru asked, "Not too scared are you?"

Kyuubi glared at Orochimaru. "That little freak is mine." He growled and continued forward at a quicker pace.

Orochimaru followed after him, feeling very lucky.

…

Kyuubi and Orochimaru walked openly through the mall, hoping to draw out Wolfwood and Angel without having to search for them. The crowds they passed through parted to hug the walls or disappear entirely into stores. The usual thrumming conversation fell into a white noise of fears and rumors urgently whispered. Kyuubi's frustrated swirls of chakra and the snakes hissing near Orochimaru's feet warned off anyone who hadn't heard of their ruthless fights.

Near the food court Kyuubi suddenly dove behind a smoothie stand. Orochimaru followed, knowing that the demon's senses were much stronger than his own. That's why the rain of bullets missed them.

Crouched behind the counter, Orochimaru judged the thunder of the machine gun to originate by the escalators two floors above them and quickly relayed this to Kyuubi with a couple gestures. The demon nodded and broke cover to dash towards the escalators. The gunfire resumed but couldn't catch up with Kyuubi's mad speed and rapid changes of direction. While the gunman was focused on Kyuubi, Orochimaru ran to the wall near the escalators and continued straight up it. Once he was halfway up, he angled back towards Kyuubi's path.

Kyuubi, ignoring the escalators, leapt up two floors to meet the gunman. As he passed the first level a blur of pink launched at him driving him into the far wall where both demon and Angel fell. At the last second Angel jumped off Kyuubi and was spared the crash of meeting the floor. It was only a one floor fall and, as such, only mildly affected Kyuubi before he was able to stand and face his new opponent.

Orochimaru watched this much, then continued on his way. Near the first level Orochimaru pushed off the wall and landed on the underside of an escalator and ran upside-down to the next level. He grabbed a ceiling light with his tongue swinging up and over the railing to land behind Wolfwood. He didn't go unnoticed, though, and the gunman spun to face him, drawing a handgun from a giant cross and shooting it as he turned. Orochimaru dodged the bullets, rolling to the left and tossing a couple kunai in Wolfwood's direction. Wolfwood pulled the giant cross in front of his body to block the kunai and continued firing from behind it. Orochimaru noticed with interest that the gunman was also wearing the garb of a priest.

"Do you really believe that your God is taking time out of his busy schedule to bless your fight?" Orochimaru asked from the brief shelter of a kiosk.

"I work in the name of God to purge the evil from this world and all work done for the glory of the Lord he rewards." Wolfwood punctuated this with another round  
of machine gun fire that tore through the kiosk's flimsy walls.

Orochimaru cursed as he realized that his taunting had given Wolfwood time to reload the cross-gun. He dove out from behind the kiosk and rolled up into a run, dodging into the nearest store. The bullets shattered the glass of the picture window behind him. Orochimaru didn't pause to see how bad the damage was, he kept running. Once he was sure that he was out of Wolfwood's sight, he hid inside a rack of prom dresses.

…

Below Kyuubi and Angel were crashing around the now evacuated food court. It had not taken long for every living person and animal to flee the burning of Kyuubi's wrath. In front of the large screen showing the fight near the entrance of the mall, however, hundreds of people stood watching the battle, hoping fervently for Kyuubi's reign to finally end.

Angel did a triple flip, neatly avoiding three clawed swipes from Kyuubi. She reversed direction for a somersault and jumped upwards to drive an uppercut into the demon's jaw. Kyuubi snarled as Angel climbed over his shoulder and onto his back. He tried to grab her, but every time he twisted his arm enough to reach she moved over more. Faint cheering carried even to the food court.

Kyuubi took a running start towards a wall and threw himself at it, turning so that the collision would squash Angel. When she jumped off to avoid the crash he was ready for her and grabbed her leg. He slammed into the wall hard enough to send a spider web of cracks through the plaster. Not quite hard enough, however, to break his grip on her leg. Kyuubi dislodged himself from the wall and tightened his grip on the wincing Angel. Kyuubi grinned; he had been looking forward to this.

…

Wolfwood crept through the clothing store, cigarette between his teeth, senses alert for Orochimaru. He couldn't afford to be surprised by the ninja. It was because of this that Wolfwood was able to dodge the large snake that thrust at him from the formal wear section. The snake's fangs grazed his arm still, but if it had gotten a good bite he could have lost use of the limb. Orochimaru stepped into view and Wolfwood blanched as he realized that the snake was actually Orochimaru's arm.

"Are you even human?" He asked.

"I was once." Orochimaru replied.

"Your poor soul." Wolfwood said.

"Ha, I stopped worrying about my soul long ago. Once I'm immortal what will it matter?"

"May God have mercy on you." Wolfwood whispered.

With two hand guns he fired a double line of bullets, knowing if he paused more than a moment to aim he would miss entirely. Orochimaru rolled forward and took a bullet in the shoulder. It stung, but now he was in close and able to fight hand to hand.

He started with a kick to Wolfwood's knee. The priest hadn't been expecting Orochimaru to come towards him and wasn't ready to dodge or block. As he fell to the ground he fired the gun but Orochimaru had it turned away before the trigger was pulled and it shot harmlessly into a manikin. Wolfwood quickly returned to his feet, but with Orochimaru so close he couldn't use his guns affectively. Orochimaru attacked with a quick succession of punches, which Wolfwood was able to block fairly well. He also kept hold of his guns, which added a distracting element for Orochimaru who had to watch where they were pointed at all times.

Punch, elbow strike, side kick, Orochimaru didn't give a second's pause to the tiring gunman. Though as he sped up his strikes, Orochimaru grew careless and it was not long until Wolfwood found the opening he needed. He fired his right gun and caught Orochimaru in the other shoulder, then in Orochimaru's moment of shock he brought up the left gun and fired straight into Orochimaru's chest. To finish he swiveled and kicked with all his power straight on top of Orochimaru's new chest wound, sending him crashing into the rack of rejected clothes outside the changing rooms.

Orochimaru groaned and weakly lifted his head to see that Wolfwood once again had the cross ready to fire. The Sannin gritted his teeth and prepared himself for the machine gun's hail, but the sound he heard was not the thunder expected. Instead, he heard one loud bang before the rocket landed on top of him.

…

Kyuubi swung Angel into the already damaged wall and immediately pulled her out again to slam her into the floor. He did this a couple more times before swinging her around his head and letting go so she flew into the escalators with enough force to tear through the first one and send it crashing to the ground.

Kyuubi walked jauntily over with the wide smile still on his face. He reached back an arm to attack her again but stopped when Death-By-Chocolate appeared in the way.

"Kyuubi," He said quietly, yet dangerously, "she's unconscious."

Kyuubi's frustrated howl carried over the rocket's explosion.

…

Orochimaru lay on the floor, barely breathing. His body was broken and torn apart and one arm lay several feet away, snakes writhing at either end.  
Wolfwood walked forward slowly, cautiously. He stopped a few feet away and thought about what method would be best to knock out the ninja without killing him.

Orochimaru coughed twice, blood spattering his face, and said, "Your God… is truly powerful."

Wolfwood looked on him in silence.

"Please," Orochimaru gasped, "I want to know God. Father- unh- I want to be saved."

Wolfwood didn't speak.

"I was human once. My soul, I must still have a soul… Father-" Orochimaru grimaced, "please tell me I still have a soul!"

Wolfwood took a step further and knelt beside Orochimaru. "I cannot save you unless you are sincere, unless you surrender completely to God."

"I want to be saved. Please- I surrender the match, only save me!"

Wolfwood took Orochimaru's hand and started to pray, "In the name of the heavenly father-"

Orochimaru dragged him down by the hand he held and pulled Wolfwood into a rough kiss. The first shock the priest felt was soon replaced with horror as he felt

Orochimaru's tongue slide down his throat. It didn't stop until it had reached the length of his neck. Wolfwood couldn't breathe. He scratched at Orochimaru's face and neck but the snake ninja wouldn't let him go. Wolfwood thrashed for two minutes before he finally lay still.

Orochimaru removed his tongue and made sure that Wolfwood's pulse was still beating. Satisfied, he shoved the priest off of him and lay panting.

Kyuubi stood over him; he had probably watched most of the final struggle. He looked upset, but not the worst Orochimaru had seen him.

Death-By-Chocolate examined Wolfwood, and then motioned over the medics who began rescue breathing.

"Orochimaru and Kyuubi are the winners." He announced and left.

"Let's go," Kyuubi sighed, handing Orochimaru his severed arm.

**A/N: Contestants may pretend to surrender as long as they resume attack after five seconds. As close as I could figure it should only be three to four seconds from the time Orochimaru surrenders to the moment he kisses Wolfwood. **

**I hope that I did alright in characterizing Angel and Wolfwood. I couldn't find very much on either one, but I really enjoyed writing about them. **


	7. Round 4: Kyuubi

**A/N: This story will be even cooler if you read Angel Lucifel's interlude first.  
If any of you are fans of Kabuto, he's in here a little thanks to the new "teammates allowed" rule.  
For my stories I've decided that the Kusanagi (Orochimaru's sword) cannot normally hurt Kyuubi. This interpretation is supported by the manga but that doesn't make AL's wrong.  
I hope you all enjoy the story.**

Round 4  
Orochimaru vs. Kyuubi

When the match of Kyuubi versus Orochimaru had been announced almost everyone had cheered. A few had been people who wanted to see an ultimate showdown. Most were cheering for the guarantee that one monster, at least, would be taken out of the running this round.

. . . . . .

Kyuubi walked down the halls, searching for Orochimaru. He could sense the ninja's chakra close by. Soon the fight would begin. Kyuubi clenched his fists, this time no one was going to dampen his victory. While though he didn't plan on killing Orochimaru, he was still going to take the Sannin close to death's thresh hold and if any do-gooder tried to stop him they would be extremely sorry.

Death-by-Chocolate and the little blue thing probably wouldn't interfere since everyone in this tournament hated Orochimaru almost as much as himself. Still, there was a chance. Kyuubi shook his head, they wouldn't interfere and if they tried he wouldn't let them. Simple. As. That.

Orochimaru sat at the base of a two story statue of Apollo, the perfectly proportioned god designed to make shoppers feel puny and worthless and thus spend more money. The ninja was polishing the Kusanagi and didn't look up when Kyuubi came in.

"Are you ready or do you need to keep stalling for extra time?" Kyuubi asked.

Orochimaru tucked the polishing cloth into his pack and stood. "I'm ready." He said.

They both leapt at the same time, clashing in midair. Orochimaru thrust the Kusanagi heavily towards Kyuubi's chest. Kyuubi blocked it casually with his forearm, which remained unmarked and hit Orochimaru shoulder with a palm strike. Kyuubi landed on his feet, Orochimaru landed on his back.

Kyuubi looked incredulously at Orochimaru. "Holy water? You really thought that would work?"

Orochimaru rose slowly. "Well the Kusanagi is already strong. I thought coating it with demon bane would be enough extra."

Kyuubi stared. "You humans are crazy."

Orochimaru shrugged, then tilted his head back, opened his mouth wide, and swallowed the Kusanagi. "Just because I'm evil doesn't mean I won't try anything to beat my opponent." He said.

"I meant you were crazy because you thought anything could hurt me." With that Kyuubi attacked again. Simultaneous punches to Orochimaru's abdomen and chest, followed by a kick to the knee, sent the ninja slamming to the floor again.

Orochimaru made a frustrated noise and rolled to the side. He somersaulted up and side kicked Kyuubi in the ribs. The demon only took a step to rebalance himself, this was not going well for Orochimaru.

The ninja and demon stood a few feet apart, deciding the next moves. Kyuubi was really just having fun at this point. He would play a bit before getting serious. Orochimaru on the other hand looked pretty worried. Kyuubi smirked, it was good to see the usually calm Sannin frazzled.

Orochimaru ran in again, pivoting at the last instant to get behind Kyuubi, he wasn't fast enough though and before his punch landed Kyuubi turned to counter. Orochimaru's tongue whipped out of his mouth and wrapped around the kitsune's neck several times. Kyuubi's counter strike hit Orochimaru in the shoulder but the ninja quickly recovered. Orochimaru swung Kyuubi into the wall with his tongue, still keeping it tightly around the demon's neck as he impacted. Then he slammed Kyuubi into the ceiling. After the demon hit the ground again Orochimaru tightened his grip around Kyuubi's neck, trying to close the windpipe.

Kyuubi pulled at the tongue but it wouldn't unwind. Growling he yanked the tongue sharply and Orochimaru was pulled roughly to him. The snake ninja narrowed his eyes as he tried to guess Kyuubi's plan and increased pressure around the demons neck.

"I warned you bitch." Kyuubi snarled. He held Orochimaru's tongue close to the sannin's mouth tightly in one hand and with the other grabbed a handful of black hair at the back of Orochimaru's head.

With a sharp, quick movement he tore out Orochimaru's tongue. A burst of fiery chakra flamed in the ninja's mouth and effectively stopped any regeneration.

Orochimaru's shriek of utter pain was drowned as his lingual artery flooded his mouth with blood. A fountain of gore spattered across Kyuubi's face and trench coat. The demon let go of Orochimaru's hair and the ninja collapsed. He twisted on the floor, unable to think of anything except the fiery pain in his mouth. Orochimaru gasped in the little air that could get past blood choking him. He was going to choke on his own blood!

Kyuubi smirked as he watched Orochimaru thrashing, the kitsune hadn't even bothered to wipe the blood off his face. Finally, Orochimaru forced himself to be still, facedown, allowing in the most air possible. Unfortunately Kyuubi wasn't going to let him recover. He kicked Orochimaru in the ribs and as the ninja started to crawl away Kyuubi followed him, beating him without mercy.

Soon Kyuubi decided to end it. He raised a chakra surrounded hand to strike Orochimaru, but Kabuto ran at him with a chakra scalpel and Kyuubi was forced to deflect the blow. Kabuto was no match for Kyuubi, but he was still an annoying distraction. It would take Kyuubi a few minutes to take the boy out without killing him.

Orochimaru had little time to act; still gasping from lack of air and blood loss he pulled a scroll from his belt and spread it on the floor. There was no need to bite his thumbs for the summons since he was already covered in his own blood. He slammed his palms against the paper and a large snake came flowing out of the scroll. Orochimaru wished that he had been able to summon Manda but he would have been jammed in the entire hallway. The snake he had summoned would have to do, it was a cousin of Manda's so it would work against Kyuubi for long enough. Orochimaru lurched down the hallway, hidden by the summoning justu's smoke cloud.

Kyuubi saw the smoke cloud and turned to find Orochimaru. Kabuto lunged at him and struck Kyuubi between the shoulder blades along the spine, the chakra scalpel sinking in deeply. Kyuubi snarled and swiftly turned to attack Kabuto but the snake had arrived and snapped at his attacking arm. Kyuubi dodged the bite narrowly. The snake's head alone was as long as a Kyuubi was tall and its body coiled for at least fifty feet behind it.

Kyuubi cursed, he could sense Orochimaru getting further away and Kabuto had disappeared too. Soon Orochimaru would be able to fight again. Kyuubi clenched his fists and struck at the snake sending a burst of chakra into its flesh. The punch left a fist sized hole in the snake's side, but the snake only hissed and wrapped it coils around Kyuubi, squeezing tightly.

. . . . . .

Kabuto found Orochimaru on the top floor sprawled out next to a chocolate store and surrounded by a crowd of the tournament's spectators. Their curiosity had won over their fear once they saw the ninja too injured to even sit up. Kabuto couldn't believe Orochimaru had gotten this far. His master had gone back to the malls hub and managed to take an elevator to the top floor before collapsing.

Even more impressive, though, was that while Orochimaru lay panting and bleeding on the floor like a half butchered animal, he was still conscious. Kabuto quickly eased Orochimaru over he was lying on his back. Kabuto made a few hand seals and placed two fingers inside Orochimaru's mouth, closing the spurting wound. He then wet a cloth and gently wiped out the blood.

Orochimaru lay on his back breathing deeply. The crowd backed up some, aware that the monstrous ninja was recovering. Some people went back to the screen in the hub to watch Kyuubi struggle with the giant snake. Though the crowd was backing away, Kabuto knew that Orochimaru was still too weak, he had lost too much blood to keep fighting. Kabuto took two syringe-like needles and thin tubing out of his pack, then he attached needles to each end and inserted one into a vein in Orochimaru's arm. He tied it firmly in place and stuck the other needle into his own arm. The blood moved slowly at first, but Kabuto focused his chakra and it quickened.

Kabuto watched his master worriedly as the blood passed between them. Orochimaru's eyes were full of fear. He lay shuddering slightly and staring at the ceiling.

"Orochimaru-sama, are you alright?" Kabuto asked quietly.

Orochimaru turned his head too look at Kabuto. He tried to say something, but his wound left him mute. He turned back to stare at the ceiling. Orochimaru closed his eyes. He had suffered horrible wounds before, but this- this was the worst. He relied on his tongue the most in battle. It was his best weapon… and with the fire Kyuubi had sent into his mouth he wouldn't be able to regenerate for a long time. It _had_ grown back a little, he could feel the stub of a normal sized human tongue in his mouth, but he wouldn't be able to use it for the rest of this battle.

Orochimaru could hear the crowd around him murmuring as they again drew close.

"Is it over?"

"It will be soon."

"The snakeman is finished."

"He probably won't even fight in the next round."

"He's not getting up."

Orochimaru opened his eyes. Everyone who saw them fell silent; soon the whole room was noiseless.

The fear was gone from Orochimaru, banished like smoke on the wind. Once again his eyes glinted with the cold steel of confidence. There was no way he would lose this. He had come too far, given up too much. His dream was almost in his grasp. It had all started with the demon fox, everything had centered on Kyuubi since that day . . . now was the time to break away. Now Orochimaru took control of his dream.

. . . . . .

Kyuubi clawed again at the snakes scales. He had already ripped many of them off along with layers of snake flesh in some areas. He had escaped many times, but each time the snake caught him again. It was simply impossible to avoid the coils of a creature so big. Kyuubi realized he would have to defeat the snake while in its grasp. He slashed and sliced at the skin but couldn't get close to anything vital. The snake kept its head far away now.

This should be over already! He'd had Orochimaru almost finished. If it weren't for that wretched Kabuto and that stupid rule! Kyuubi would be having a talk with Death-by-Chocolate for that decision. Kyuubi dwelt on these thoughts as he hacked at the snake. So many times his victory had been stolen from him by that chocolate demon. He was barely even a true demon, nowhere near Kyuubi's strength. Why should Kyuubi follow the lesser demon's rules?

As Kyuubi grew angrier the chakra around him swirled and expanded outward. It burned darkly around him as he struggled with the snake. Then the chakra started eating away at the snake's skin. Kyuubi soon dropped free as the hissing snake was consumed by the power of his chakra. Even after he was out of contact with the creature the chakra continued to eat at it for many feet before it burned out, leaving two lengths of snake corpse strewn in the walkway.

Kyuubi turned to find Orochimaru.

. . . . . .

As Kyuubi's chakra exploded the spectators watching the screen screamed. Kabuto looked towards the hub.

"He's coming." Kabuto said softly.

Orochimaru smiled and rose to his feet. "I know." He said.

Kabuto finished packing his medical supplies and stood. "Is there anything more I can do?"

"No." Orochimaru said. "I can handle him."

The crowd of people had left as soon as Orochimaru stood. When Kyuubi arrived he faced Orochimaru in an empty hallway.

Kyuubi's eyes blazed with amber fire more intense than the chakra that swirled around him. His tails flowing out behind him mirrored the flames of chakra licking his body. Chakra so red it was almost black, completely surrounding the demon so thickly that in places it was almost dripping off of him. Even beyond the chakra's shroud a dark aura extended, filling all the area within sight. The hallway was in a red twilight.

"You," Kyuubi's voice rumbled deeply through the hall, "are dead."

Only minutes ago Orochimaru would have been crippled by this powerful presence. Now, though Kyuubi's glare cut to his core, Orochimaru could stand up against him. The Sannin readied his attack and sent two snakes extending from each arm at Kyuubi. The kitsune destroyed two of them with a slash of his chakra enveloped hand, dodged the other two, and ran in close to Orochimaru.

He swiped at Orochimaru who double back flipped out of range again. Kyuubi snarled and attacked again, this time with spinning kick. Orochimaru fell to the floor to avoid it, quickly rolling to the side as Kyuubi brought his heel down with a slam that cracked the tile floor where Orochimaru's face had been. Orochimaru rolled into a crouching position and sent a swarm of smaller snakes to overwhelm the demon fox. As they came in contact with Kyuubi's chakra they shriveled to black crisps.  
They continued like this for fifteen minutes before Kyuubi grew bored. He flipped back out of Orochimaru's immediate range and focused a black orb of chakra in front of his outstretched hand. Orochimaru reached to pull another scroll from his belt but before he find it Kyuubi loosed the blast. Orochimaru dove to the ground but it didn't help much. The chakra blast tore past him, the shockwave leaving cuts on his face and arms, it continued down the rest of the wing, shattering store windows as it went, and burst out of the end wall with a great boom. Orochimaru knew he was only alive because it had been such a small amount of Kyuubi's Chakra.

If he didn't put his plan into action now he might not survive to do it later so Orochimaru extended his neck out like a grotesque giraffe twisting it at the last moment so he could bite Kyuubi hard on the shoulder. Then he pulled it back to normal length quickly, before Kyuubi could retaliate. Orochimaru felt like his lips were on fire, he could tell they were burned raw by the contact with the demonic chakra.

Kyuubi craned his neck to look at the black mark forming where he had been bitten; it slowly formed a shape like three commas. He gave a sharp laugh and turned back to Orochimaru.

"What in hell are you trying to do?" He asked, "Your cursed seal has no power over me."

Orochimaru shrugged. "Just experimenting," He said hoarsely, it hurt to speak, "I wanted to see how it would react with your chakra."

Kyuubi shook his head in disbelief, and then stopped as it made him nauseous. He looked back at the mark, his own dark chakra swirled dizzyingly around the spot. Orochimaru's mark was more powerful than he'd thought. It was a very old jutsu the Sannin had stolen and while it was nowhere near strong enough to bend the kitsune to Orochimaru's will, it still conflicted with his chakra and his body. The demons chakra was purging the cursed mark, but in the process was making Kyuubi sick. The demon had to place a hand on the wall to steady himself as his chakra purged Orochimaru's curse, whirling around his body and concentrating over the mark, his chakra started bubbling and steaming, white fizz spilled onto the floor. Kyuubi clutched his stomach and threw up.

As soon as Kyuubi's head was down Orochimaru exploded into motion. He ran to the demon fox, letting the Kusanagi slide out of his mouth as he did so. The blade moving against his partially regenerated wounds almost stopped him, but he knew if he paused now Kyuubi would recover. The demon heard Orochimaru moving and raised an arm to fend off the attack, but all of his chakra was spread thin, concentrating on the mark.

Orochimaru thrust the Kusanagi through Kyuubi's arm and into his chest, pinninghim to the floor. The demon howled as the holy water coated blade sank through his heart. His chakra immediately refocused onto the sword, frothing around the wound. Kyuubi lost consciousness as his chakra overloaded.

Orochimaru pulled the blade from the kitsune's chest and wiped it casually with his sleeve.

Death-by-Chocolate arrived, checked that Kyuubi was truly unconscious, and grinned.

"Orochimaru is the winner!" He shouted. The crowd below cheered.

Orochimaru allowed Kabuto to support him as he walked to the railing that looked down on the hub of the mall. "Why are they cheering for _me_?" he asked.

"They're cheering for Kyuubi's loss." Kabuto said.

"Ah, I see." Orochimaru smiled. He reached the railing and looked over at the crowd."I'm glad to have impressed you all so much," He said, smiling, "I promise you, the finale will be even better."

A cloud passed over the sun, casting shadow through the glass dome above the mall's hub. The crowd was silent.

**A/N: Orochimaru uses cursed seals, which he places on people by biting them, to corrupt and eventually control whoever he wants to make a servant. I assume that a demon's body would purge anything that had to do with control by another. **


	8. Round 5: Vexen

**A/N AngelLucifel won the last round so you should read her entry for Kyuubi to see what officially happened last round. She is a brilliant writer and I'm glad that she was the one I lost to if I had to lose.**

**Round 5  
Orochimaru vs. Vexen**

Orochimaru's wounds were finally healed. After days of being bedridden and pumped full of medicine the ninja was able to walk around the mall and spar with Kabuto, Orochimaru was nearly back to full strength by the time the next round's match ups were announced. He was fighting a man named Vexen; their fight was near the middle of the round so Orochimaru had time to prepare.

"Well?" He turned to Kabuto when Death-by-Chocolate had finished listing opponents. "Who is this guy?"

The boy still had scars across his face from Kyuubi smashing him into the glass last round, but he had been busy as soon as he had healed continuing his research on all the contestants. "He's rather mysterious."Kabuto said, "I'm not sure where he comes from or if he's even human. However, I do know a good deal about his fighting style. He controls ice, and the temperature of his environments to create his weapon. For defense he uses a shield. Every round that he's won in this tournament has relied on a trap, he fights with his intellect."

Orochimaru grinned. "Sounds like a good match."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Orochimaru prowled down the hallway of one of the mall's many spokes, meticulously aware of each store entryway and every opening in the ceiling above his head. In the half crouch of a hunter he searched for his opponent. He caught a movement in one of the clothing stores to his right; a shadowy figure darting past the racks of evening gowns and prom dresses. Orochimaru snuck over to the edge of the entry way to get a better look.

When he heard the sharp crack overhead Orochimaru realized he was no longer watching the ceiling. The ninja somersaulted forward and broke into a run as Stalactites of ice crashed to the floor around him. Orochimaru dove into a cookware store, knocking over a display of crock-pots and regaining his feet just as a man wielding an overly complicated weapon ran in after him. Orochimaru had seen Vexen at the round announcements before, this blue-haired boy wasn't him.

"Oh great," Orochimaru sighed, "a team effort."

The boy smirked and struck out with the pointier end of his weapon. Orochimaru dodged it and threw a kunai at the boy before jumping to the ovens. The boy knocked away the kunai and followed.

Orochimaru thrust his arms toward his opponent. They transformed into snakes, one writhing around the complex weapon and the other squeezing the boy's legs together. As the boy fell a large snake, as thick around as a tree's trunk, appeared behind him and slowly rose, ready to strike. Orochimaru kept hold of the boy and reached out to snake mentally, sure he could turn it to his will.

Orochimaru blinked, and then turned smirking to the boy as he realized the true nature of the serpent. "You picked the wrong illusion to frighten me boy." He laughed, lifting the snake arm that entangled the boy's legs Orochimaru slammed his opponent into a shelf of iron skillets.

Orochimaru stopped short at the entrance to the store, listening in case anyone was waiting outside. He heard breathing.

The ninja turned on his heal and hurried to edge of the display window, peeking through it to see what he was up against. There were two men outside the store, though one was as big as two men. One was Vexen, he could tell by the blond hair, the other was a burly man with a simple, large tomahawk. It looked like they had both noticed the lack fighting noise in the store.

Orochimaru moved out of sight and quickly unwound three feet of wire from his pack, snipping it quickly. Then the Sannin crawled up the wall and onto the ceiling, using his chakra to keep him in place. Vexen walked in first followed closely by the other man. As they passed under him Orochimaru dropped behind and let the wire fall over the bigger man's head. Keeping his legs tucked up Orochimaru's falling weight brought the wire sharply against the man's throat.

Vexen turned sharply as he heard his companion thud to the floor. Orochimaru stood behind contemplating his victory.

"He's still alive." Orochimaru decided and then looked up smirking at Vexen. "So are you ready to fight me or do you have more friends?"

Vexen scowled. Ice spikes formed in the air and launched themselves at Orochimaru. Orochimaru dodged to the side and struck out with his snake arms and struck Vexen's shield. Orochimaru pulled the snakes back then extended them up and over the blond to attack from behind. More ice spikes formed in the air, this time flying towards the snakes. One of Orochimaru's snakes was pierced through the head, the other Vexen again blocked with his shield.

While Vexen was thus distracted Orochimaru's tongue coiled around Vexen's ankle and lifted him high in the air. Vexen flailed but couldn't get loose. After a while though, Orochimaru felt his legs numbing and recognized that he too had been distracted. Ice was steadily climbing up his legs, encasing him in a growing pillar.

Vexen's shield collided with Orochimaru's head and the ninja's tongue slackened, dumping Vexen on the floor. The blond scrambled to his feet, retrieved his shield and retreated several feet. Ice continued to climb up Orochimaru's body, now reaching his hips. The Sannin tried to chip it away with a kunai but it grew back faster. His arm that had been pierced by the ice spike hung useless at his side and the ice started to envelope that too. Orochimaru gave an exasperated cry and glared at Vexen who was watching and smiling from a safe distance.

"Don't be so smug." Orochimaru spat at him. Vexen just raised an eyebrow, as if asking why not.

In answer Orochimaru twisted his good arm behind his back and dislodged a scroll from the ice. Spreading it with a flick of his wrist Orochimaru draped the scroll over his shoulder. Then he bit his thumb and completed the blood summon. A snake appeared in a cloud of smoke, this one slightly larger than the blue-haired boy's illusion.

Vexen jumped and prepared to attack, but the snake ignored him. Without instruction it began coiling around Orochimaru, who was now covered in ice to his throat. Vexen paused, not sure if the snake was hurting or helping Orochimaru. The snake constricted tightly and the ice around Orochimaru shattered. The Sannin gasped as the ice shards cut against his skin, but then the snake relaxed its hold and the ice fell away.

Vexen attacked with another volley of ice spikes. The snake hissed as the struck, but appeared only slightly hurt, Orochimaru had stepped behind the serpent and remained untouched.

"You think you've won?" Vexen asked, "I'm nowhere near finished yet!"

The blond pulled a flask from his coat and threw it at the snake. It smashed in the snake's face and the creature hissed as the chemical solution burned it. The mixture ate through the snake's skin and soon the snake was so wounded it unsummoned in another cloud of smoke.

Orochimaru rushed forward to attack and Vexen pulled a second flask from his coat. "Take this." Vexen cried as his splashed the contents on Orochimaru, drenching the ninja with its acidic contents.

Orochimaru stopped in his tracks, acid dripping from his clothes and hair. Vexen smirked and formed a large icicle in his hand to finish the job. Orochimaru launched forward and wrapped his tongue around Vexen's neck. Vexen tried to strike Orochimaru with the Ice spear but the angle was too awkward.

"But, my potion…" The blond managed to gasp before Orochimaru twisted his tongue sharply and Vexen went limp. Orochimaru let his opponent crash to the floor.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Earlier**

"One other thing," Kabuto had continued, preparing Orochimaru. "Vexen is a proficient chemist. He's created a variety of potions and gases. Luckily I was able to isolate a common factor in his experiments." Kabuto pulled a vial of green liquid from his pack. "Rub this on your skin before you fight him and you should be immune to his chemical attacks."

Orochimaru grinned. "And how did you accomplish all this? Before you even knew I was fighting him too!"

"I infiltrated his lab. It was difficult to go through his notes and run some experiments of my own while he was fighting. As for the timing, I made it a priority to investigate people using poisons first."

"That's why you're my best." Orochimaru laughed.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kabuto walked casually over to Orochimaru's side. "Is he dead?" He asked.

"Nah," Orochimaru shook his head, "His neck is just broken. He's fine."

Kyuubi nearby called out, "Really?" in a sarcastic, doubting voice.

Kabuto leaned over Vexen and checked him for breath. "As long as medical attention get's here in a few minutes he won't die."

Satisfied Kyuubi turned and walked out of the store.

"I'll see to that." Death-by-Chocolate said, appearing to survey the latest damage. "Orochimaru wins the match." He announced, then left to attend to the next match.

**A/N I hope I did alright on the characterization, I didn't have time to research Zexion or Lexaeus much before writing this but it didn't seem like they wouldn't be part of the fight since they were already at the mall. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the fight.**


End file.
